Photo: Tom Casino / SHOWTIME – By Jim Dower: Unbeaten World Boxing Council (WBC) super middleweight champion Carl Froch (24-0, 19 KOs) weighed in at 167 in today’s pre-fight weigh-in for his title bout on Saturday night against challenger Jermain Taylor (28-2-1, 17 KOs) in Mashantucket, Connecticut. Taylor, 30, weighed in at two pounds under the limit at 166. Froch, 31, is taking a big risk in traveling from England to fight in front of what will likely be a pro-Taylor crowd in Connecticut.
Most Americans have never heard of Froch, so this will be the first time that many of them will have seen him fight.
Froch is known mainly for having a big heart, a lot determination and a good – but not great – punch. His work rate isn’t the highest, but he makes up for it by being deadly accurate with his punches. Froch recently won the vacant WBC title in December with a close points win over Jean Pascal. That fight is easily the biggest fight of Froch’s career up to this point, as he’s been put in with limited opposition.
The lack of experience against top opponents is what has many people worried for Froch, suggesting that the British fighter will be in over his head against the worldlier Taylor, who previously held both the WBC and WBO middleweight titles before losing them to Kelly Pavlik.
Carl Froch tends to get hit a lot in his fights, but so far has been able to compensate using his power shots, pressure offense and steady work. Froch has to hope that he can hurt Taylor with a big shot and take him out, because if the fight comes down to a decision then Taylor – with his much better hand speed and boxing ability – is likely to emerge on top as the victor.
If this fight had taken place a couple of years ago before Taylor fought Pavlik for the first time, Froch would have a much better chance in the fight. Back then, Taylor could sometimes be goaded into big exchanges with his opponents. However, after the loss to Pavlik in 2007 – a 7th round TKO defeat – Taylor has become much more clever, using distance, lateral movement, his jab and short bursts of punches to get the better of his opponents. Taylor will likely not be standing directly in front of Froch and presenting a stationary target for him to get his shots off.
It’s hard to say who hits harder between Taylor and Froch. Who knows? They both may be about the same, but you can say this: Taylor does throw the much better combinations and can throw them in bunches. When Taylor is getting his short flurries in, he’s awfully hard to beat.
However, Taylor has his weaknesses, starting with his questionable stamina. In fights against Pavlik and Bernard Hopkins, Taylor got winded down the stretch. Even in the first fight with Pavlik, Taylor exhausted himself trying to score a knockout in the 2nd round and didn’t ever really get his wind back. Taylor doesn’t like to get hit hard, and tends to back off and become defensive after taking some big shots.
If Froch can get his attention early on with some power shots, he may put Taylor on the back foot and neutralize much of his offense. Taylor can only win if he’s able to throw his combinations and if he’s fearful of getting hit, he can be outworked.
Also on the card, once beaten Allan Green (27-1, 19 KOs) will be fighting Carlos De Leon (21-2-2, 14 KOs) in a 10-round bout. Green weighed in at the 168 pound limit, as did De Leon.
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